Wallace Leland Barteaux
Bart Exemplifies Good Sportsmanship
Wallace Barteaux, an all-round athlete and one of the original members of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, was involved with sport his entire life. Born in Annapolis Royal in 1904, Barteaux entered Acadia University with the class of 1927. There, “sport was Bart’s real major. He succeeded in being a clean and favorite athlete, winning his “A” in football, hockey and baseball, and thus capturing the coveted distinction cap.” Not only an outstanding athlete, he was manager of both the football and baseball teams at Acadia during his senior year. Captain of the 1926 rugby football team, he was known for his defensive skills and his sense of fair play.
Barteaux played hockey at Acadia; later he was a member of the Kentville, Nova Scotia Wildcats where he was a perennial scoring threat. Baseball was his spring sport and even as a school boy he was a member of the Annapolis Valley all-star team. After graduation from university in 1927, he became Vice-Principal and later Principal of the Kings County Academy in Kentville, Nova Scotia where he taught and coached the various sports teams; his teams won many championships. His citation in the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame notes that “he was instrumental in the development of Nova Scotia high school sports.” He also served as an umpire in baseball leagues and a hockey referee in western Nova Scotia. In 1942, the Athenaeum paid tribute to his dedication: “After watching the work of Wally Barteaux, coach of many KCA teams...we have concluded that nowhere in these maritime provinces could a man be found that so exemplified good sportsmanship.”
(Acadia Athenaeum, June 1927; June 1942)
